Prof. Noboru Konno
Noboru Konno is Professor Emeritus and Special Appointed Professor at the Graduate School of Tama University, Tokyo. He is Chairperson of the Japan Innovation Network (JIN) and founder of the Future Center Alliance Japan (FCAJ) and EcosyX Lab. With the late Ikujiro Nonaka he co-developed the concept of Ba and the SECI model of organizational knowledge creation, foundational frameworks in knowledge management worldwide. He chairs the Japanese national committee for ISO/TC 279 (the ISO 56000 innovation-management standards) and is a Senior Fellow of the European Peter Drucker Society.
Konno’s work bridges philosophy, design, and management. Building on Nishida, Miki, and the Kyoto School, he has developed original frameworks including kōsō-ryoku (conceptualizing capability) and Knowledge Ecology, a biosemiotically informed theory of innovation. He is the author of numerous books in Japanese and English, including Kōsō-ryoku (Springer, 2024) and the forthcoming Knowledge Ecology: Understanding Innovation in the Age of AI (Springer). He advises corporations and public institutions on innovation ecosystems and leadership, and publishes regularly on knowledge, innovation, and the philosophy of meaning.